Busy Culford School pupils provide life-changing support

Busy pupils from Culford School have been getting their teeth into a couple of ventures across the seas – one of which will provide life-changing support to a library in Malawi.

The school has received a literacy grant of £1,000 from Better World Books, while seven youngsters have recently returned from a diving trip in Tenerife.

The grant will be used at the Good News Orphanage in Malawi, a library which the school set up in 2014.

This money will enable the team in Malawi to install solar lighting so they can use the library in the evenings and buy a laptop with internet capability to provide access to online resources and help with library management.

They will also be able to buy a bicycle and trailer so they can take books out into the local community, and buy more books and resources.

Since their first visit to Malawi in 2009, Culford has supported the Good News Orphanage. In 2014, they raised money with support from the Rosetta Trust to convert an unused building into a library, paying for new furniture and shelving and donating nearly 1000 books.

The grant will ensure that the library continues to grow and aid the community and Librarian Lesley Martin said: “This will support children in their education, improve literacy and allow the wider community to benefit from access to books and information on essential topics such as health and agriculture, as well as reading for pleasure.”

The trip to Tenerife, meanwhile, saw pupils enjoy a week in the sun, improve their diving skills and explore the island under the guidance of three teachers.

For two youngsters, this was their first experience of scuba diving.

Three pupils purely dived for fun and the final two pupils, Leo and Gabriel Williams, completed their rescue diver course.

The dive team are currently preparing for their next trip in April, which is to the island of Cozumel in Mexico.